This invention pertains to the art of coffee making, and more particularly to the construction and operation of a pump utilized in coffee percolators.
In a percolator for brewing coffee, water is heated in a container and passed upwardly through a pump stem to a basket or retainer containing coffee grounds. The heated water is passed through the bed of coffee grounds retained within the basket to extract the flavor therefrom and produce a palatable brew. During the brewing cycle, water is heated in a well at the bottom of the container to its boiling temperature and forced upwardly through the pump stem of a pump positioned within such well and discharged at its upper end for flow into a bed of coffee grounds retained within a basket positioned adjacent the upper end of such pump. The quality of the brew produced, as the water filters downwardly through the coffee media to extract the essence thereof, is dependent upon the time period during which the water is circulated through the grounds, the temperature of the water as it is passed therethrough, and the quantity of the coffee and water utilized. The present invention is particularly directed to the control of the volume of water which is passed through the coffee bed so as to produce a high quality of brewed coffee. If too much water is provided, undesirable compounds will be extracted from the coffee grounds producing an unpalatable brew, and flooding of the grounds may occur resulting in the obtainment of undesirable sediment within the brewed coffee. If, on the other hand, too little water is utilized, an underdeveloped or weak brew will result.
Accordingly, the instant invention has overcome the problem of controlling the volume of water which is passed through the coffee grounds in a conventional perking operation, by providing a correct volume of water to such grounds during each timed cycle to thereby produce a quality brew.